Updated 12:16 am, Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Knowing how little expendable time his high school classmates had, he said, he thought if he pushed hard enough, "maybe they'd take time to read 20 minutes a day. That's all it takes to get started."

Between blog posts, he found time to run (successfully) three times for president of his class at Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He also was class valedictorian.

He lettered in track and wrestling, but it was for football that Lyons drew 49 scholarship offers, all of which he listed on his website. The schools included Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and UCLA. The 34th school listed was Stanford, which wound up winning the four-star prospect's heart.

Stanford's investment in the cornerback was slow to pay off. He missed almost all of his freshman season because of a broken foot, then started just one game last year. He had only one interception in his college career until Saturday, when his two interceptions clinched a 27-20 victory over Notre Dame.

He also had a big day in the September win over Arizona State, which Stanford plays again Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., for the Pac-12 championship.

Wayne Lyons (right) breaks up a pass to DaVaris Daniels during the third quarter of Stanford's win over Notre Dame. Lyons, a junior, entered the game with one career interception and had two against the Irish.

Wayne Lyons (right) breaks up a pass to DaVaris Daniels during the third quarter of Stanford's win over Notre Dame. Lyons, a junior, entered the game with one career interception and had two against the Irish.

Photo: Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images

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Cornerback Wayne Lyons is reportedly considering a transfer to Michigan to play for former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.

Cornerback Wayne Lyons is reportedly considering a transfer to Michigan to play for former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.

Photo: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

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Wayne Lyons a happy face in Stanford defense

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Lyons tied Shayne Skov with a team-high nine tackles in the 42-28 win, but remembers whiffing on the ball on a slant pass from Taylor Kelly to Jaelen Strong and seeing Strong take it 27 yards to a touchdown.

"That's the play that stuck in my mind," Lyons said.

The play helped ASU scare the devil out of the Cardinal, who led 39-7 in the fourth quarter before having to hold off the Sun Devils.

Lyons had given up a touchdown pass earlier in the Notre Dame game before coming to the rescue with his picks in the fourth quarter.

For a lot of defensive backs, it's hard to forget when you give up a touchdown or a big play, head coach David Shaw said. "You start to question. You start to play conservative. You start to play it safe.

"But that's not Wayne Lyons' makeup. He forgets about it and moves on. You've got to have that."

According to Shaw, Lyons has made steady progress since the injury setback of his freshman year. "He's gotten a lot smarter," he said. "I think he understands the game more. ... He's getting a good feel of being a corner in this league."

On or off the field, Lyons doesn't spend a lot of time in the doldrums. He's one of the team leaders in smiles.

"I'm all about making people smile," he said. "I just like to be happy all the time. I love smiling."

His happy-warrior personality helped him win three terms as class president in high school. "I made friends with everyone I met," he said. "That took me a long way. I was that guy that everyone got along with."

He's majoring in architectural design, following former teammate Andrew Luck into that area of study. "Andrew gave me a lot of insight on what the major was and different tips," he said.

He'd like to "design people's homes to match their personalities," he said.